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Draining rice fields cuts greenhouse gas

THE rice fields of Asia belch vast amounts of methane into the atmosphere. But simply draining them shortly before the rice flowers could slash emissions from many fields by more than half.

Methane-generating, anaerobic bacteria thrive in the oxygen-starved soils of flooded rice fields. The bacteria feast on sticky substances that ooze out of the roots, and the methane they produce passes up through the plants into the air. Crop scientists estimate that the 42 million hectares of rice fields in India release 3.61 million tonnes of methane each year. The gas is the second-largest contributor to …